France expels dissident ministers

Associated Press

Published 6:25 pm, Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Photo: Alain Jocard, AFP/Getty Images

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A file picture taken on March 26, 2014 shows Elysee palace's deputy secretary-general Emmanuel Macron after a meeting with the French President, in Paris. French President Francois Hollande on August 26, 2014 named Emmanuel Macron, a former Rothschild banker and close ally, new economy minister in an emergency reshuffle after a major political crisis. AFP PHOTO/ ALAIN JOCARDALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images less

A file picture taken on March 26, 2014 shows Elysee palace's deputy secretary-general Emmanuel Macron after a meeting with the French President, in Paris. French President Francois Hollande on August 26, 2014 ... more

This combination of 16 pictures made on August 26, 2014 shows France's new government ministers (from top L) Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy ... more

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France expels dissident ministers

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Paris --

France's prime minister reshuffled his Cabinet on Tuesday to silence ministers who had openly criticized Socialist President Francois Hollande's economic policies as he tries to pull the nation out of stagnation and steer it toward growth.

Emmanuel Macron, who had earlier served as top adviser in charge of the economy, took over the Economy Ministry, replacing Arnaud Montebourg, who had publicly railed against government policies as being too austere and unjust to the French.

Macron, a 36-year-old former banker who advised Hollande until June 2014, is known for his pro-business stance and is sure to send a positive signal to the European Union, which is pressuring France to get its finances in order.

The Cabinet reshuffle came less than five months after the ambitious and popular Prime Minister Manuel Valls took office on April 1, steadfastly promoting Hollande's agenda. The changes are aimed at creating a Cabinet that embodies Hollande's policies, seen as too far to the right by some Socialists.

In addition to the ousted ministers, dozens of other Socialists are believed to consider Hollande's economic policies a betrayal of the party's cause.

Valls on Tuesday said any debate "should be held within the government."

"There is a single (policy) line and members of the government cannot make a spectacle," Valls said in a TV interview on France-2 TV in reference to Montebourg's public criticism of French economic policy.

"I have a single mission ... to set the country aright," the prime minister said.

France, the No. 2 economy in the eurozone, has had no growth this year.

Hollande is the most unpopular president in recent French history, with ratings below 20 percent.

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